Naver expands AI, digital infrastructure in Saudi Arabia

Naver is accelerating its expansion in Saudi Arabia with new efforts in AI and digital infrastructure, moving beyond its existing smart city projects.

Chairman Lee Hae-jin met with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Majed Al-Hogail, in Riyadh during Cityscape Global 2025 to discuss potential cooperation in digital finance, data centers, and urban development using AI.

Both sides explored partnerships on stablecoin-based digital currencies, real estate tokenization, and increased research collaboration in emerging technologies.

Naver is planning a stock swap between its fintech arm Naver Financial and crypto-exchange operator Dunamu to enter the stablecoin business.

The company has already delivered digital twin platforms for smart city projects in Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah.

It also formed a joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s National Housing Company to expand smart city solutions and digital infrastructure in the region.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Saudi Arabia’s blockchain stance creates regulatory uncertainty for Naver’s stablecoin plans

Naver is exploring stablecoin-based digital currencies (crypto tokens pegged to fiat currencies) with Saudi officials and real estate tokenization (turning property rights into digital tokens), yet cryptocurrencies remain illegal per declarations from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) plus the government’s permanent committee since 2018 1.
The Ministry of Finance says virtual currencies lack recognition by legal entities and sit outside the regulatory framework, with no parties licensed for crypto practices 1.
Saudi Arabia is piloting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for interbank payments, such as Project Aber, which signals interest in blockchain for official use while the public crypto ban stays in place 1.
This gap between Naver’s plans and the ban may require new licensing or exemptions in special economic zones (SEZs) before rollout.

Data center operators can tap into Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure buildout driven by AI workloads

Naver’s AI push and Saudi Arabia’s smart city projects are driving demand for data processing capacity that matches the Kingdom’s $18 billion plan for a network of large data centers 2.
Third-party colocation providers (companies that rent rack space, power, and connectivity) and cloud infrastructure firms can use the Cloud Computing Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that offers corporate tax rates as low as 5% versus the standard 20% 3.
The SEZ gives flexibility for cloud service providers to build and operate data centers across the Kingdom while serving sectors like smart mobility and digital healthcare 4.
With AI spending set to top $720 million in 2024 and cloud investments expected to pass $4.7 billion by 2027 providers that enter now can lock in partnerships before hyperscalers (very large cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud) take the lead 2.